Sewing machine



April 16, 1946.

H. J. LE VESCONTE SEWING MAcHINE Filed May 21 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l E w. m H.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 16, 1946 UNIT STATE p TENT; cram-e This invention relates :tosew-ing machines and more particularly to cup-feed. sewing machines such as are used extensively in the production of V the longback seams of silk hosiery and the like.

It has reference especially to an. improved feed cup mounting and drive.

An object of the invention has been to provide a unitary feed cup suppprtingand driving assembly whichz is simple and. economicalto construct and'tomount in a maChineof-the' character set;

forth. The improved. form and arrangement of the mechanismds such that .a feed cup. andits drive may be quickly and easilyremoved and. re-g the-end stated, theimproved construction is such that the parts subjected to int-ermittentxrotation are reduced tosa from thewstandpoint of mass and moment of inertia. In prior one-way clutches for .cupsfeed. machinesit has been the common practice to. connect a relatively large; and heavy outer drumrmemberorhousing to the shaft tobe rotatedintermittently, while the driving= means and means for preventing-backward rotation have been: ;.mounted. within :the :drum

Fig'IVjis a horizontal" sectional view along the line IVs-IV of Fig. II,with'a portion of a plate memberbroken away for clearer illustration.

Referringnow to the drawings, the invention ,has been illustrated as'. app lied to a machine of the type disclosed in the patent to Rubelietal. No. 2,043,711, granted June 9 1936;: Fora fuller I disclosure of the various operating devices and the driving connections therefor, reference may be had to said Rubelpatent. p

, Briefly, the machine comprises a hollow frame it adapted to besllp orted froma table and having a laterallyextendiiig,,hollow bracket at its upper. end which. houses the driving means for the feed cups. ..Within,the frame lfljarelocated the various operating connections from amain drive shaft l I, which extends through the opposite side walls of the frameandisprovided on the outside of the sameQat ,oneorboth ends, with a combined handwheel and belt pulley, not shown. Suitable stitch formingtdevicesiare provided, these being driven by appropriate eccentrics, or the like, secured to theshaft ll. .They includea needle bar l2, adaptedto be reciprocated horizontally in a bearing in the frame, a primary looper l3, adapt,- ed to be both reciprocated and oscillated, and a secondary looper 14, adapted to be oscillated.

V The mounting and connections for driving these member; This has .resulted: .in frequent over-= throwing-pf the feed cupsat high speed. To over comelthis, the present invention provides for'the splittingof the outerdrummember of the;c1utch I unit into. upper. .and. lower a members, identified j with the drivingtand preventing means, respectively, and themounting of a smaller, inner member. of the unit upon the driven shaft for intermittent operation of the latter.

Other objects, features and advantagesof the invention .will appear from the detailed .descrip tionsof an illustrative-form of.,the samewhich tion :of .a sewing. machine embodying the. invert-Q tion;

Fig. .11 is a verticalsectional view through a unitformingthev supporting and. driving means for oneof the feed cups Fig.2III is ahorizontal'sectional view along the stitch forming devices-land their mode of operation are fullylset forth in said Rubel et a1. patent. For the purpose of feeding the work, such as silk hosiery,,to beoperated upon by the stitch forming devices,. suitable intermittently rotatable feed cups Hand 16 areprovided. -These are se-. cured, vrespectivelm;totshafts l1 and I8 whichdepend from theioverhanging bracketportion of the frame and aredriven; in the manner to be explained, by suitableconnections with the main shaft H. The shaft I1 is journaled within a sleeve I9 carried by1a bracket 20 pivotally mounted on theoverhangingportion of the frame by means of a rock shaft 2|. A universal coupling 22 serves to connect :the upper end of the shaft I! with thelower end of a shaft .23 j ournaled in a bushing 24 carried by theoverhanging portion of theframe. A gear 25 secured to the shaft 23 above the bushing meshes witha similar gear 26 secured to the upper end of the shaft l 8 by means of a setscrew 2lwhich passes through the hub 28 of the gear; It will-beunderstood that the axes of the shafts II and [Bare preferably disposed in a plane which is at 'amacute angle to the forward faceaof the housingas wellas to the path of reciprocation .of 1: the; needle; this is for. the;

i .upurpose: setsforthgin;saidtRubelyet a1: patents; It;

will also be understood that suitable spring means are provided for urging the pivoted bracket 20 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. I) to hold the feed cup l5 yieldingly in engagement with the cup l6; cup [5 is thus allowed to yield or shift away from cup I6 in the feeding of work of variable thickness.

Beneath the gear 26 there is mounted for oscillation upon the shaft l8 an upper section 29 of a clutch drum or housing. The clutch drum or housing is completed by a lower section 30 havin a downwardly extending sleeve-like portion 3| which provides a bearing for the shaft l8. Portion 3| of the lower section of the housing fits snugly within an opening in a downwardly ex tending boss 32 integral with the overhanging portion of the frame. A screw 33 passing through the wall of the frame serves to retain the lower section of the clutch drum in desired position. The lower end of the sleeve-like extension 3i is preferably reduced in diameter, as indicated at 34. A collar 35 is secured to the shaft It just below the extension 3| and serves to retain the parts in. assembled relation. It will be'seen that a unitary sub-assembly is formed by the shaft l8, gear 26, clutch drum sections 29 and 39, and the parts enclosed by the latter, which will be presently described. All of these elements are retained on the shaft l8 between the hub 28 of the gear 29 and the collar 35. The arrangement is such that in the production of the machine, the sub-assembly indicated may simply be dropped into place in the boss 32 of the frame and then locked in correct position by the set screw 33.

Subsequently the feed cup l6 may be secured,'by

its set screw, to the lower end of the shaft [8.

Between the sections 29 and 39 of the clutch or disc 39 may be omitted and the rollers 38 may simply be permitted to rest directly upon the rollers 39. The relative sliding movements of the rollers 38 and 39 are not great and willthe'refor'e not be interfered with. When disc 36 is omitted the vertically extending flange portions of the members 29 and 39 maybe extended into engagement with each other, or substantially so. The rollers 38 and 3-9, as will be understood, serve to provide a one-way clutch-connection between the member 29 and an inner member 49 of substantially triangular configuration, as shown in Figs. III and IV. Member 40 is secured to the shaft [8, for rotation therewith, by means of a set screw 4|. several corners thereof, cooperate with the two sets of rollers 38 and-39 to assist in bringing about th proper action; Suitable provisions may be made, as disclosed in the patent to Long et al. No. 1,692,130, granted Nov. 20, 1928, fordistributing the wear of the rollers over a substantial portion of the'cooperating surfaces of the member 49.

For the oscillation of the member 29, this is provided with a lateral extension '43 (Fig. III) having a ball joint connection at 44 with a. strap portion 45 at the end of a connecting rod or link 46. At its opposite end this link is pivotally connected with a pin 4'l'coo'perating with anelongated slot 48 in an arm'49 of a rock member mounted on a shaft 50. Thepin 41 is adapted to be clamped in" any suitable way'at-anydesired Springs 42, secured to the member 40 at the position along the slot 48. By proper adjustment and setting of the pin 41 in the slot 48, the stroke imparted to the link or pitman 46, and hence to the clutch drum section 29, upon each oscillation of the rock member, may be varied as desired. A downwardly extending arm 5| of the rock member is pivotally connected, by a pin 52, with a pitman 53 having a strap portion surrounding an eccentric 54 secured to the shaft I I.

It will be seen from the foregoing that upon each revolution of the shaft II, the rock member 49, 5| will be oscillated to impart a reciprocatory movement, of variable stroke, to the link or rod 46. This will produce oscillation of the section 29 of. the clutch drum. Upon movement of the latter in one direction, i. e., counter-clockwise (Fig. III), it will simply urge the rollers 33 against the springs 42 and will not cause rotation of the member 49. Turning of the latter at this time will, in fact, be prevented by the action of the rollers 39 which become wedged against the inner periphery of the member 30 and thus effectively prevent counter-clockwise turning of the member 40 (Fig. IV). However, on the movement of the member 29 in its clock-wise direction, the rollers 38 will impart a corresponding movement to the member 49, which is not interfered with by the rollers 39 and the drum section 39.

An important feature of the foregoing construction is that the element of the clutch which is secured to the shaft l8, and is given the intermittent movements in one direction, is of relatively small diameter and light weight and hence has a relatively low moment of inertia. The larger and heavier members of the clutch are the oscillatable section 29 of the drum, which is always under positive control-by the eccentric 54, and the stationary, backward rotation preventing lower section 30 of the drum, The danger of overthrow of the shaft I8 is thus reduced to a minimum.

As explained in said Rubel et a1. patent, provision is made for distributing lubricant through the hollow of the frame I9, including the overhanging portion of the same. Some of this lubricant will be collected in cup-like. recesses 55 formed in the upper surface of the gear 26 and may be delivered through passages 59 into similar recesses 5'! in the member 29. From these latter recesses the lubricant may be delivered to the interior of the clutch through passages 53, thus insuring adequate lubrication of the clutch surfaces. Excess lubricant may be returned to the reservoir in the main body of the frame through a discharge opening 59 in .the member 39. A spiral groove 69 may be provided to convey a portion of the lubricant to the bearing surfaces between. the shaft I8 and the sleeve 3i.

'Whilean illustrative form of the invention has been described in'considerable detail, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the construction and'arrangement of the various parts without departing from the general principles and scope of the invention. The terms and expressions used herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation.

I'claim: 1 W

l. A" drive for sewing -machine .work feeding means adapted to be supported'by the frame .of the machine and adapted to be intermittently rotated step by step at high frequency, which comprises a main drive shaft, eccentric means driven at high speed by said shaft, and connections from said eccentric' means for operating said work feeding means, said connections in cluding a one-way clutch havingan outer housing divided transversely of its axis into two sections, one of said sections being directly connected for oscillation by said eccentric means, the other of said sections being held stationary, means within said housing lighter than either of the sections thereof operatively connected by an intermittently driven shaft with said work feeding means and arranged to be driven by said one of said sections upon its movement in one direction and to be held by the other of said sections as said one section is moved in the opposite direction, said stationary section providing a bearing for said intermittently driven shaft, and means secured to said driven shaft at opposite sides of said housing so constructed and arranged that the housing and said means within the same form a unitary assembly with said driven shaft separable as a unit from said frame.

2. A drive for a sewing machine feed cup which comprises a driven shaft on which said cup is mounted, a main drive shaft adapted to be operated at high speed, connections from said drive shaft to said driven shaft for imparting step by step, high frequency, intermittent rotation to the latter, said connections comprising a one-way clutch having a housing divided transversely of its axis into two sections, one of said sections being lighter than the other and being mounted for free oscillation on said driven shaft, a member of lower moment of inertia than said oscillatable section secured to said shaft and enclosed by said housing, rollers between said member and said oscillatable section providing a one-way drive therebetween, the other section of said housing providing the sole bearing for said shaft, and rollers between said member and said other section of the housing for preventing rotation of said driven shaft in one direction.

3. A unitary assembly for a machine of the class described which is separable as a unit from said machine and comprises a shaft, a clutch member secured to said shaft, a second clutch member mounted for oscillation on said shaft, means forming a one-way driving connection be tween said clutch members, a stationary member having a sleeve-like portion providing the sole bearing support for said shaft and having a cup-like portion receiving the first mentioned clutch member and partly enclosing the same, means between said first mentioned clutch member and the cup-like portion of said stationary member for preventing rotation of said shaft in a direction opposite to said one-way drive, said cup-like portion carrying an inwardly extending member for spacing said one-way driving means from said rotation preventing means, and

means secured to said shaft adjacent the outer ends of said second clutch member and said stationary member for retaining the recited parts in assembled relation. 

